Which Country Superstar Is Being Courted by American Idol?

Watch out, Blake Shelton—a new country superstar might be heading for reality TV!

Hot on the heels of yesterday's big news that Mariah Careyofficially signed on as a judge for American Idol, reports are suggesting that the Fox hit has found a possible candidate to fill one of the seats left vacant by exiting judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler.

While Fox and Paisley's rep aren't commenting on the casting rumors, Deadline reports that Idol producers are seriously considering Paisley for the gig, which would make him the first country star to have a seat on the show's judging panel.

Jason Moore/ZUMAPress.com

The choice makes sense considering Shelton's success and popularity on NBC's The Voice and how well country artists have fared on Idol in recent years. Not only is former champ Carrie Underwood the show's most successful winner to date, but last year's finale featured two country singers, Lauren Alaina and winner Scotty McCreery.

Paisley, a three-time Grammy and 14-time Country Music Association award winner, has had 16 singles reach number one of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Paisley has performed on Idol before and has hosted several awards show with Underwood.

Carey is currently the only judge signed on for Idol's new season; Randy Jackson has yet to say whether or not he will return for a 12th season, but Fox president Kevin Reilly recently said, "Randy has been working with Mariah for a long, long time and is in fact her co-manager. Randy was very instrumental in this deal."